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Strawberry Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake

Nothing can come close to the perfect flavors in this Strawberry Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake. It’s a decadent cake that you’re gonna love!

You know those milestone birthdays, 10, 13, 16, 18, and 21? Well my baby just had her second milestone birthday….the big teenager, 13. 🙁 It’s totally depressing. I can’t believe that my oldest is 19, and my youngest is 13. I no longer have a kid anymore, I have two teenagers. Both will be a year older before I know it.

I remember growing up, and wishing my life away…come on 10, come on 13…16, you get the point. At the time it seemed to take forever to get a year older. Now that I’m in my upper 30’s, with two daughters, it seems that the year comes faster and faster. I have no idea what happens to time between childhood and adulthood, but someone needs to figure out how to slow it down. When they do, I’ll be the first one to try out whatever it is, to stop it.

With any birthday at our house, I always bake the cake. I try to always bake something that is new, so that I can share it here with y’all. This year is certainly no exception. Kelsie wasn’t sure what kind of cake she wanted for her 13th birthday, but we had tossed around some ideas. One idea that has come about for several years now is combining chocolate, strawberry, and peanut butter. This has nothing to do with the love of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Actually, it has everything to do with some special, limited time M&M’s that came out when the first Transformers movie released. The original live action movie, before Mark Wahlberg.

We bought them, because who doesn’t love trying out all the tasty M&M flavors! However, we were totally disappointed when they never released again, for the other Transformer movies.

Those tasty M&M’s is where the idea for this cake from from. This cake was enjoyed by us, and my best friend and her family, while they were down visiting. It’s like the best chocolate cake, and peanut butter and jelly sandwich you’ve ever had, rolled into one tempting cake! It’s not hard to make, and I literally made this in one day’s time.

Keep in mind that you have to chill the strawberry filling, if you choose to make it from scratch. I would only make one tiny minor change to this cake when I make it again…..more strawberry filling.

This is the first cake I’ve ever filled the center with, besides buttercream, so it was new territory for me. I didn’t realize that some of it would sort of melt down into the layers of cake. No big deal, it just didn’t have a nice thick layer. But lesson learned, and I’ve told y’all, so that if you do make this, which you should, then you’ll have that nice thick layer of strawberry filling.

Strawberry Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake

Nothing can come close to the perfect flavors in this Strawberry Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake. It's a decadent cake that you're gonna love!

Ingredients

Strawberry Filling

1 1/2 cups Strawberries, sliced

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup water

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Hershey Special Dark Cocoa Powder

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup hot black coffee

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 1/2 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Strawberry Filling

Place strawberries in a saucepan with sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

Pour 1/4th cup of water in with the strawberries. Pour the remaining 1/4th cup water over the cornstarch. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat the strawberry mixture on medium to high heat. Stirring to help melt the sugar. And using a potato masher to help break the strawberries down further.

Pour the cornstarch water mix in, stir to combine, and turn the heat on low. Allow the mixture to bubble slightly. It will thicken as it cooks down. When it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat, and strain using a mesh strainer. Allow to cool completely in a small measuring cup or mason jar.

Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. (I always trace the bottoms onto parchment paper, and cut them out to fit) Spray the pans and parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl attached to a stand mixer, add all of your dry ingredients. Turn it on low to mix together.

Add the coffee, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Turn the mixer on medium and beat for two minutes.

Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the cakes and placing on cooling racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar until well combined. Slowly pour in the heavy whipping cream, and beat until combined.

To assemble, place the bottom layer of the cake on a cake stand, and pipe a thick border of frosting on the cake around the outer edge. Pour the strawberry filling in the center. Place the top layer, carefully, not to press to hard. Crumb coat the cake and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, before the final frosting. Optional: Top with sliced strawberries and chopped up peanut butter cups.

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Hey, I'm Joanna, and I'm so glad that you stopped by! Here at Everyday Made Fresh you will find a variety of topics. However, my heart is in the kitchen so I like to share recipes for the busy family in mind. Most meals only require 30 minutes of your time, and the ingredients can easily be found at your local grocery store. Read More!